A character in search of a role

At 91, Dom Mintoff remains quite a character. He has his long past, a zebra-like bundle with stripes of good and others hardly so. That is not how he sees it. How he does he will remind us once his memoirs are published. He probably does not publish them now out of superstition.

Memoirs suggest the end of the line. And the man is not ready to call it quits just yet. He is a restless character, forever in search of a role to play. He performed many a time, including 50 years ago, when he made his Labour government resign to put pressure on colonial Britain.

History has not treated him that kindly, drawing on how British officials and politicians saw him. The context as it was 50 years ago, when colonialism was a major fact of life, is not always used to set the stage quite as it was at the time.

Much focus is laid, for instance, on who was responsible for the April 28 riots of 1958. The British government is almost admired for not having let loose its armed forces, as it did during the Sette Giugno riots. There is only soft emphasis on the fact that in 1958 the colonial government used Maltese policemen against fellow citizens.

There were protesting Labourites who lost their head, in places like Paola. There were also Labourites who were protesting peacefully, if raucously, in Kingsway, Valletta, and were brutally beaten up by policemen who more than lost their head in turn.

A fuller context remains to be provided to add to the useful work done by our historians. I wonder whether history will ever put in context Mr Mintoff over the past 10 years, the period after he left active politics, having defied Prime Minister Alfred Sant on what was turned into a motion of no confidence, though it involved the way to develop the Cottonera waterfront, and not any money bill.

The once grand old man of Maltese politics seemed to be largely out of circulation. Those who think so couldn't be more fooled. His physical powers may have gone downhill. Mr Mintoff's brain schemes on regardless. There has been nothing to show that he saw himself as a political character without any further role to play.

He would send for that and the other behind the scenes, undaunted by the fact that few responded to his beckoning. I certainly did not and neither he, nor I, were any worse for it. Still creative, he would script his own opportunities. Before the March election, he led the media to believe he was going to stand. Whether he did not do so because he found no one to nominate him, or because he had a change of mind is immaterial. He grabbed headlines and time on television. No actor can live without the stage and the political actor that is Mr Mintoff will seek the stage up to his last breath.

He saw another opportunity last Sunday. George Abela, a contender for MLP leader, held his first encounter with the public a week earlier in Cottonera. Quite a large crowd turned up. On Sunday, Dr Abela played home, at Qormi. There was another handsome gathering. Mr Mintoff was in it.

He had missed out at Cottonera, where he is still revered by some, though many other Labourites detest him for the role he played in the hot summer of 1998. The debacle of the MLP in the ensuing election is attributed to him. He can hardly be the explanation why a large Labour majority, achieved 22 months earlier, was turned into the massive defeat in the 1998 general election. Nevertheless, that's how many still see it.

Whatever cold analysis will tell eventually, Mr Mintoff turned from saviour to - perish the word - traitor. Not so much, though, as to still him. He went to Qormi, plumped himself in the front row, by and by asked for the microphone and clung on to it as if it were a lifeline.

He endorsed Dr Abela but caused the candidate to contrast him openly. Mr Mintoff spoke up against the EU. Dr Abela, a committed Europhile, would have none of that. Mr Mintoff roared for a constant push against the Nationalist government to topple it even in its first year. Dr Abela, a democrat, would have none of that either.

Elections, he said, should be held when due. Dr Abela also argued against old wine in new bottles, a metaphor that did not exclude one Mr Mintoff.

The old Labour leader, looking for yet another role to play, did not do George Abela a favour by turning up at Qormi. There are far more people, a host of Labourites included, who wish Mr Mintoff had never been born, than admirers. But so what? That was the last thought that would enter Mr Mintoff's mind. In search for a role, he found one temporarily. Who cares that thereby he dented somewhat Dr Abela's progress? Certainly, not Mr Mintoff. That is not in his character.